Tag: Buy-Hand Laguna Beach

Yes birds are chirping these days and it seems like our “winter” weather has taken a vacation from us here in So Cal. Bees are coming out of hibernation too. While bees are nice to see pollinating flowers, I do not care for them when they search out our fireplace and enter our apartment.

Gizmo kitty got an up-close introduction to several of them, getting stung on the face and cheek. A quick trip to the vet, a shot of Benadryl and he was back to his antics within 48 hours. Here’s hoping the exterminator’s spray is able to keep the bees at bay and not use our fireplace as a new home.

March went out like a lion, so to say, with lots of animal custom orders. Lee started taking a couple of my crochet animals to work with him, and within 2 weeks, 10 animals were sold. With more orders, came more work. While some of my favorites sold; i.e. piggy, party penguin, octupods, new animals were popular like the Happy Car, Big Ear Bunny and Teddy Bear made with Caron Sprinkle Cakes yarn. All in all, March had 22 sales.

April is for my consignor. Last weekend we drove down to her shop in Laguna Beach, about 90 minutes away, to deliver some animals. At that time, I inventoried her current stock and she placed her order for more ocean related animals: octopus, squid, mermaid, seal, walrus, hippo, you get it, water related critters.

Baggy and Gizmo are so thrilled to know my crochet animals are heading to their new homes. They will miss all the yarn tails, ball and strands that were play toys for their entertainment.

Until next time, when the 6th LA Yarn Crawl comes around April 19th thru April 22nd. 26 stores, lots of free knit and crochet patterns, trunk shows, giveaways and miles and miles of driving the freeways.

Last Saturday I participated in the El Segundo Hometown Fair. It’s an annual event for the city that brings out families. The kids get to play in the bounce houses, the adults chatting amongst themselves and the arts and crafts vendors get to make new customers.

Typical of beach living it was a cold, windy, damp day. I am often approached by customers asking some common questions about my knit and crochet items. Such as if I teach children and do I teach knitting.

The answer to both is yes. I do teach kids how to crochet, with minimum age of 10 years, and not more than 6 kids at a time. If there are more than 6 kids in a class, they lose the one on one teaching, with some catching on and others not at all.

I also teach knitting. Sometimes privately in my home and sometimes through other venues like yarn shops or through a city program.

Customers also ask how long I have been crocheting animals. This question always brings back memories of the first arts & crafts event I participated in. It has been 10 years now that I have been knitting and crocheting for fairs.

To be honest, I cannot remember exactly how I got into selling at craft fairs. My first show was at the Redondo Beach Performing Arts Center. My table had knit and crochet scarves and crochet beanies. The beanie hats were the first time I had ever crocheted in the round. People complimented me on how well I knitted scarves, and that I should have raised the price of the scarves. (Lessons of the newbie!)
I went online and spent many hours looking at patterns.

Turtle was my first animal.

My first animal I ever crochet was the turtle. Many mistakes were made but I had to try. Once I got the hang of it, I found it to be easy to crochet.

Some of my wares you can find at Buy Hand Laguna Beach.

In 2007, I participated in a show at a senior center, brought along 8 crochet animals, along with other items. The animals were a hit! I had found my niche and have been crocheting animals for 10 years. I create my own designs too which include the octopod, jellyfish, seal, teddy bear, ducky ball with more to come.

Five years after that beginning All of my ocean related animals are shipped to Buy Hand – Laguna Beach, where I consign them. Their customers love my crochet animals —they have even been photographed for a local newspaper article on the shop!

My Octopod gets featured in article about Buy Hand Laguna Beach.

How did you find your niche?

Baggy here: I love a good story. Tell me how you found your niche in the comments below.

As a crocheter, I am usually making crochet animals for arts & crafts fairs, my website or my consignee,Buy Hand – Laguna Beach. Yesterday, I had to make a fiberfill run because I was running low on stuffing plus a 50% off coupon enticed me. I had heard that JoAnn’s Fabric and Craft Stores would be carrying Premier Yarns’ Sweet Roll, their version of Caron Yarns Cakes. I decided to purchase 2 skeins, because I can’t come home with only 1, right?

I chose Mint Swirl, a trio of green (husband’s fav color) and Black Pepper Swirl (black and gray, Raider Nation). Time to crochet a scarf with the Mint Swirl, and knit a scarf with Black Pepper.

I grabbed my Prym Ergonomic Size J (9mm) crochet hook, a longer and larger hook because I want the scarf to have a loose tension. Deciding how wide and long was not an issue for me, 245 yards is plenty for a crochet scarf. Half Double Crochet is my stitch of choice.

I like the Sweet Roll yarn. A nice worsted weight, acrylic yarn, that worked up quickly. Its soft to the touch, the color changes were smooth, with an exception where there was a knot, but I was able to hide that knot. When I folded it in half, the blocks of color closely matched up.

The scarf measures 7 inches wide by 53 inches long. It is long enough to wrap around your neck. It is machine washable, cold temp. Tumble dry. I plan to wash it with SOAK yarn wash to soften it even more.

(Baggy Here: As Kathy’s creative director, I’m thinking the next one Kathy crochets will be longer and not as wide, so stay tuned.)

There are many color combinations to choose from and at $5.99 per cake, it is a good price for the 245 yards you get.